13 men killed by US military boat strikes identified: These were flesh-and-blood people'

"A five-month investigation has named 13 previously unidentified victims of US attacks on boats allegedly carrying narcotics in a campaign that has killed nearly 200 people in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. It is unclear if the US has ever identified any of its 194 victims before attacking them, and the names of just three had previously emerged, after their families launched legal cases against the White House."

"The Trump administration has consistently sought to justify the killings, which began during last year's military buildup towards Venezuela, by arguing those targeted were narco-terrorists transporting drugs to the US. But a joint effort by 20 journalists led by the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) this week published the identities of 13 of those killed, some of whom showed no indication of involvement in drug trafficking."

"The CLIP's report showed that all the victims identified so far, including those who may have had some involvement in drug trafficking, came from extremely poor communities across Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite the US claim that the strikes are fighting narco-terrorism, what is actually happening is that young people living in extremely precarious conditions, doing whatever work they can to support their families, are being targeted."

"The investigation also underlined what other reports and security analysts have concluded: that the strikes have not reduced the flow of drugs to the US, but have instead torn apart communities already fractured and weakened by organised crime and state neglect. There are communities where they stopped fishing for several weeks and if they do that, people go hungry because they were terrified of being bombed."

A five-month investigation identified 13 previously unnamed victims of US attacks on boats allegedly carrying narcotics in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. Nearly 200 people have been killed in the campaign, and it is unclear whether the US identified victims before attacking them. Only three names had previously emerged after families pursued legal cases against the White House. The Trump administration has justified the killings as strikes against narco-terrorists transporting drugs to the US, beginning during a military buildup toward Venezuela. A joint effort by 20 journalists published identities of 13 victims, including some with no indication of drug trafficking involvement. The victims came from extremely poor communities across Latin America and the Caribbean, and the strikes have not reduced drug flows while disrupting fishing and community life through fear of bombing.

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